By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    stress management for healthcare workers
    3 Tips For Healthcare Professionals: How To Stay Beautiful, Healthy, and Happy
    November 2, 2021
    importance of relaxing on the weekend for your health
    Importance of Relaxing During the Weekend for Optimal Health
    March 25, 2022
    LASIK Eye Surgery
    What Is LASIK Eye Surgery?
    May 16, 2022
    Latest News
    6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
    September 10, 2025
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Heroism in Harm’s Way
    February 21, 2015
    5 Things Every Trainee GP Should Know
    August 27, 2019
    Top 5 Facts About CPPA Accreditation
    April 9, 2015
    Latest News
    Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
    September 9, 2025
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Medicare by the Numbers
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Medicare by the Numbers
Health Reform

Medicare by the Numbers

JohnCGoodman
JohnCGoodman
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

Here are the five most important things you need to know about Paul Ryan, Barack Obama and Medicare. You won’t find this anywhere else.

Here are the five most important things you need to know about Paul Ryan, Barack Obama and Medicare. You won’t find this anywhere else.

1. Seniors Take It on the Shin. Without any help from Paul Ryan — and without a single Republican vote — the Affordable Care Act is going to reduce spending on Medicare by $523 billion over the next 10 years, relative to what it would have been. This reduced spending — which will mainly consist of lower fees for doctors and hospitals — will continue into the future and will be enforced by an independent commission. Although the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have different projections, Obama administration representatives have officially signed off on the CMS report, which projects that Medicare will grow no faster than the rate of growth of gross domestic product (GDP), as the following chart shows.

To give you some idea of how radical this change is, on the day Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act legislation, he cut Medicare’s long-term, unfunded liability in half!

More Read

Budget Office Releases New Projection on Effect of Repeal of Reform Law
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Impact on the Future Healthcare Workforce
Fragmentation: The Enemy of Patient Outcomes
Why Can’t The Market for Medical Care Work Like Cosmetic Surgery?
5 Tips for Conducting a Clinical Trial

 

2. My Line Is Lower than Your Line. Despite the hysteria on the left about the Bowles/Simpson, Rivlin/Ryan and the Domenici/Rivlin plans, the ObamaCare Medicare cuts are much harsher than any of these proposals. And most critics of these entitlement reform plans were enthusiastic supporters of ObamaCare.

Ignoring the political maxim to never get between an opponent’s gun and his foot, the new Paul Ryan budget manages to top even ObamaCare by roughly tracking the Affordable Care Act spending for the next decade and then allowing Medicare spending to grow no faster than the consumer price index.

In response to Ryan, President Obama has proposed a growth rate for Medicare of GDP + 0.5%, which is less than the CBO projection for ObamaCare (GDP + 1%) but more generous than the CMS projection (GDP + 0%), which the administration has already signed off on. Go figure. (See the chart below.)

3. Not Reforming Health Care. None of the proposals (including ObamaCare) have any serious plan to reduce health care spending for the country as a whole. This means that Medicare spending will fall further and further behind what everyone else is spending under every proposal. Under ObamaCare, for example, the Office of the Medicare Actuaries estimates that Medicare payments will fall below Medicaid payments by the end of this decade. Also, none of the proposals have any mechanism that would allow people to build up tax-free savings to be able to afford to replace reduced Medicare spending with personal out-of-pocket spending. This is enormously important because none of the projected cuts will be made if a backlash from elderly voters makes them politically impossible.

4. Ignoring What Has Already Been Proposed. The Coburn/Ryan health bill is the only serious proposal to fundamentally change the economic incentives of employers, employees and medical providers. But even it does not go far enough to bring total health care spending in line with what is being proposed for Medicare. We have suggested ways of making the Rivlin/Ryan plan better and achieving reasonable goals here.

5. Ignoring What Is Already Being Done. Despite the hysteria over the idea of Ryan’s concept of “premium support,” the idea actually originates with left-of-center economists Henry Aaron and Bob Reischauer (see Ezra Klein) and we already have it in Medicare. It’s called Medicare Advantage and about one-fourth of all Medicare enrollees participate in it. In addition, the subsidies for private plans sold in ObamaCare health insurance exchanges will also morph into premium support. We also already have something similar to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) — the Obama administration’s hope for controlling costs for Medicare. They are called Medical Service Organizations (MSOs) and they service Medicare Advantage plans — the plans ObamaCare has targeted for defunding. (Again, go figure.) I’ll write about this more in the future.

   

TAGGED:health care reformPaul Ryan
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Interest Groups: Hurtling Us Down the Road to Ruin

June 25, 2013

Mass. Study – Insurance Costs Still Too High

March 9, 2011
DannySandsHeader
Health ReformMedical EducationPolicy & LawPublic Health

Physician-Patient Collaboration: A Conversation With Dr. Danny Sands

March 27, 2016
Health careHealth ReformPolicy & LawPublic Health

Eliminating Substance Abuse Would Save the Economy $740 Billion a Year

February 21, 2018
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?